Railroad car side



July 21, 1970 C. E. JOHANSSON 3,521,573

RAILROAD CAR SIDE Filed Nov. 25. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CARL E. JOHANSSON BY E7 ,5 a W ATTORNEYS y 970 c. E. JOHANSSON 3,521,573

' RAILROAD CAR SIDE Filed Nov, 25, 1966 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 INVENTOR, 3; E a CARL E. JOHANSSON BY r 25 gm g ATTORNE Y United States Patent 3,521,573 RAILROAD CAR SIDE Carl E. Johansson, South Euclid, Ohio, assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Nov. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 596,858 Int. Cl. B61d 17/08 US. Cl. 105409 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The railroad car side is constructed of a light weight material such as aluminum. The car side has specially shaped components because of the fabrication requirements of aluminum and includes a side sill which is channel-shaped and face inwardly of the car. A side plate extends along the top of the car side, and post-supported side Walls extend between the side sill and side plate. An opening is formed in the side wall and plates supported on the side plate and sill extend along the top and bottom of the door opening. A channel-shaped threshold plate is formed on top of the channel-shaped sill, faces in the same direction as the sill and supports the floor of the car. The sill includes a vertical extension to which the lower edge of the side wall is attached. Similarly, the side plate includes a depending leg to which the upper edge of the side wall is attached.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to railroad cars and more particularly to a side wall of a railroad car constructed from a light weight material such as aluminum.

The use of aluminum in railroad cars has the obvious advantage of reducing the car weight which thereby permits either a greater pay load or the use of additional special equipment to protect the lading without increasing the permissible weight of the car. Aluminum, however, poses problems of fabrication which are distinct from the problems incurred in building railroad cars and doors from steel. Consequently, the use of aluminum in railroad cars has typically been piece-meal with various components of the car being converted from steel to aluminum. For example, aluminum cars doors are now being used and other aluminum components which can be used in a railroad car, such as aluminum car ends, are available.

Aluminum and other similar light weight alloys are usually fabricated by means of extruding. Since only certain type of forms can be extruded, the type and shape of structure which can be used in a railroad car is somewhat restricted. Moreover, because of the nature of aluminum and light weight alloys, it is desirable that they be extruded to as nearly as possible the final shape desired and thus eliminate as much undesirable cutting or coping as possible.

This invention proposes an aluminum structure for a railroad car side which minimizes the amount of cutting or coping.

This invention is directed to the construction employed in the door area of an all aluminum car side which provides the necessary strength together with economical fabrication.

More particularly, the invention comprises a railroad car side which includes :a side sill, a side plate and side walls extending between the sill and the plate. The sill is generally channel-shaped with the channel facing inwardly of the railroad car. A threshold construction is formed from a second inwardly facing channel having a vertically upstanding leg on the side sill. The inwardly directed threshold channel extends above the upper leg of the side sill channel a distance substantially equal to the depth of "ice the floor employed in the railroad car. The upper leg of the threshold channel extends inwardly a distance less than the length of the lower leg on the side sill channel. The side wall is co-extensive with the upper portion of the vertically extending leg and is secured by welding thereto.

The side plate is channel-shaped and includes a depending leg in the same plane as the upstanding leg on the threshold channel. The side wall abuts the lower end of the depending leg on said side plate and is secured by welding thereto. A first plate extends across the door opening in the side wall with the plate being secured to the depending leg at the juncture of the leg and the side plate. A second plate is secured to the side sill and extends across the door opening with the second plate secured to the upstanding leg on the channel.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a railroad car side.

FIG. 2 is a sectional taken along section 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional taken along section 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is :a view along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a section taken along 55 of FIG. 4.

As seen in FIG. 1, a railroad car side 11 formed entirely of lightweight alloys such as aluminum includes a side sill 12 which extends along the bottom length of the railroad car side 11. A side plate 13 extends along the car at its uppermost portion.

Vertical end posts 15 and hat-shaped wall posts 16 reinforce the sheathing 14 along its length. Door posts 17 are located on either side of a door opening 18 in the sheathing 14. The end posts 15, wall posts 16 and the door posts 17 extend between the side sill 12 and the side plate 13. A side wall or sheathing 14 is continuous from the door posts 17 to the end posts 15 and also extends between the side sill 12 and side plate 13.

Extending between the door posts 17 and longitudinally along the railroad car side 14 are an upper first plate 19 at the top of the doorway 18 and a lower second plate 20 at the bottom. The first plate 19 and the second lower plate 20 are coplanar and provide surfaces against which the seals on a door may abut.

The details of the connections of the first plate 19, second plate 20, door posts 17, side sill 12 and the side plate 13 are depicted in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. The first plate 19 which extends along the top length of the door opening 18 is secured by welding to a depending leg 23 of the side plate 13. The first plate 19 is received in a recess formed at the juncture 23a of the depending leg 23 and the side plate 13.

The first plate 19 overlaps the door posts 17 which are generally hat-shaped and have flanges 17a in contact with the sheathing 14. The flange 17a on each post is recessed at 21 to accommodate the first plate 19 which is welded in position to the door posts 17.

The second plate 20 extends along the bottom portion of the door opening 18 and is secured as by rivets and welds to the side sill 12.

A channel-shaped threshold plate 24 is integral with the side sill 12 and faces in the same direction. The plate 24 is formed by a vertically upstanding leg 25 on top of the upper leg 26 of the channel 12 and an inwardly directed upper leg 29 integral with the vertically upstanding leg 25. The upper leg 29 extends inward a distance less than the length of the top inwardly extending leg 26 of the side sill 12 so that the floor 33 may rest on the upper leg 26. The height of upstanding leg 25 should be substantially equal to the depth of flooring 33 so that a smooth continuous surface is formed. An extension 27 extends upwardly from leg 25 and is coplanar with it and depending leg 23. The sheathing 14 has its lower and upper edges welded to the top of extension 27 and the bottom of de- 3 pending leg 23, respectively. Extension 27 is cut away in the door area as shown in FIG. 2.

At equal lengths from the vertically upstanding leg 25 on the underside of the inwardly extending flange 29 and on the upper portion of the leg 26 are abutments 31 in direct opposition to each other. They form an abutment for a support plate 32 which is inserted between legs 26 and 29. The support plate 32 supports the leg 29 and prevents any accumulation of material in the threshold plate 24.

The side plate 13 is channel-shaped but faces in the opposite direction from the side sill 12. The side plate 13 includes a lower leg 13a against which the upper ends of posts 16, 17 abut. The lower ends of posts 16, 17 are secured to sill as by welds 39 and rivets 34. The posts 16 come in direct contact with the downwardly extending leg 23 of the side plate 13 and the extension 27 on sill 12 thereby providing a direct reinforcement for sheathing 14 over its entire width.

The specific structure as described above is designed so that the components may 'be extruded from a lightweight alloy and will need only a minimal amount of cutting or coping.

For ease of description, the principles of the invention have been set forth in connection with but a single illustrated embodiment. It is not my intention that the illustrated embodiment for the terminology employed in describing it be limiting inasmuch as variations in these may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Rather I desire to be restricted only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A railroad car side comprising:

a side sill extending lengthwise along the bottom of said car side;

said side sill being generally channel-shaped having upper and lower legs, with the channel facing inwardly of the railroad car and a vertically upstanding leg above said upper leg;

a side plate extending lengthwise along the top of said car side; and both said side sill and said side plate being extrusions of a light weight alloy;

side walls formed of a light weight alloy extending between said sill and said side plate, said side walls having a door opening therein.

'2. The railroad car side of claim 1 wherein a channelshaped threshold plate having an upper leg is formed on the top of said channel-shaped sill, facing in the same direction.

3. The railroad car side of claim 2 wherein said upper leg of said threshold plate extends inwardly a distance less than the length of the upper leg on said channel-shaped sill so that the floor of the car may rest on said upper leg of said side sill.

4. The railroad car side of claim 3 wherein at least one of said side walls is coextensive with the upper portion of the vertically extending leg on said side sill and is secured thereto by means of welding.

5. The railroad car side of claim 4 wherein said plate includes a downwardly depending leg in the same plane as said upwardly extending leg on said channel-shaped sill;

said side wall abutting. the lower end of said depending leg on said side plate and secured thereto by welding.

6. The railroad car side of claim 5 which includes an upper plate extending across the top of said door opening in the side Wall with said plate being secured to said depending leg at the juncture of said depending leg of said side plate and said side plate. 5

7. The railroad car of claim 6 wherein said lightweight alloy is aluminum.

8. A railroad car side comprising:

a side sill extending lengthwise along the bottom of said car side;

a side plate having a downwardly extending leg extending lengthwise along the top of said car side;

both said side sill and said side plate being extrusions of a light weight alloy;

side walls formed of a light weight alloy extending between said sill and said side plate and having a door opening therein;

said side wall being secured at its upper edge to said leg; and

a plate extending across the top of said door opening,

said plate being secured at the junction of said downwardly extending leg and said side plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,468,185 4/ 1949 Doyle -409 2,686,480 8/1954 Johansson 105-409 3,253,556 5/1966 Glaser et a1 105-406 3,347,175 10/1967 Butcher 105-409 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner a, t RT CE s is an E m er 

